Guess who can't keep a secret? PM in hot water

The Prime Minister, John Howard, has been accused of
jeopardising a year-long operation by state and federal police
targeting terrorist suspects in Sydney and Melbourne.

The Government used an extraordinary Senate sitting yesterday to
pass an amendment to anti-terrorism law to tackle what Mr Howard
described as a "potential threat" to the nation.

While declining to give details on operational grounds, Mr
Howard said the move had been prompted by "specific intelligence
and police information this week which gives cause for serious
concern".

Labor supported the amendment but the shadow attorney-general,
Nicola Roxon, said the Prime Minister needed to assure the public
that "oper- ational matters have not been compromised as a result
of the actions the Government took".

The move is believed to have taken some senior police by
surprise. The investigation into the threat has been under way for
many months, police sources say, and the blanket media coverage
given to Mr Howard's announcement may have alerted some
suspects.

The operation is believed to be related to an investigation into
the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar e-Toiba and its associates.
In June and July this year, ASIO and police conducted raids in
Sydney and Melbourne and brought in several suspects for
questioning. Among them was a man who had trained with Lashkar
e-Toiba before it was listed as a terrorist organisation.

Also raided in Melbourne was Abdul Nacer Benbrika, a radical
Algerian sheik who holds significant influence over a group of
young students. Several Sydney suspects had travelled to Melbourne
to meet Benbrika and his students.

The sheik later publicly denounced the ASIO raids and in a
separate incident claimed he had been abducted and assaulted by
unknown assailants. He was also charged in late August with fraud
offences.

Labor's homeland security spokesman, Arch Bevis, was briefed on
the Government's intelligence and said the Government was justified
in rushing through yesterday's legal amendment.

Mr Bevis also said that, whether deliberate or otherwise, the
announcement "maximised the Government's political benefit".

"We offered to push the amendment through last night," he said.
"That meant the authorities could have done their arrests by this
morning."

Intelligence sources also expressed their surprise at Mr
Howard's tactics.

Typically, when alarming information is gleaned, a
well-rehearsed set of procedures is put into place. These normally
involve high-level meetings among senior intelligence personnel,
government officials and law enforcement officers.

"That certainly didn't happen," said one source. "No one was
called back into the office. The proper procedures weren't
followed."

Mr Howard also did not order any increase in the terrorism alert
level.

Mr Howard's revelation of the threat, on which he briefed the
NSW and Victorian premiers, Morris Iemma and Steve Bracks, did,
however, swing the states behind his whole package of controversial
counter-terrorism laws, including preventive detention and control
orders.